Comparing UPF Dataplane I/O Modes in a Cloud-Native 5G Core: AF_PACKET, AF_XDP, CNDP, and DPDK on SD-Core BESS-UPF

[2608.14589] Comparing UPF Dataplane I/O Modes in a Cloud-Native 5G Core: AF_PACKET, AF_XDP, CNDP, and DPDK on SD-Core BESS-UPF Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Computer Science > Networking and Internet Architecture arXiv:2608.14589 (cs) [Submitted on 22 Jun 2026] Title: Comparing UPF Dataplane I/O Modes in a Cloud-Native 5G Core: AF_PACKET, AF_XDP, CNDP, and DPDK on SD-Core BESS-UPF Authors: Shiva Valia , Nitin Rajput , Aditya Gairola , Vipin Rathi View a PDF of the paper titled Comparing UPF Dataplane I/O Modes in a Cloud-Native 5G Core: AF_PACKET, AF_XDP, CNDP, and DPDK on SD-Core BESS-UPF, by Shiva Valia and 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: The User Plane Function (UPF) carries all user-plane traffic in a 5G network, and its throughput depends on how packets move between the NIC and the application, that is, on the packet I/O mode. We compare four widely used modes, AF_PACKET, AF_XDP, the Cloud Native Data Plane (CNDP), and the Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), on a single open-source UPF. Using SD-Core BESS-UPF deployed as a Charmed operator on Intel XXV710 NICs in Canonical Kubernetes, we run the same GTP-U/PDR/FAR/QER pipeline under each mode and change only the BESS port driver, so any difference is attributable to the I/O backend. For each mode we describe its architecture, datapath, memory model, and deployment requirements, and we measure throughput, latency, CPU usage, and stability; the deployment is also validated end-to-end against a disaggregated O-RAN 5G RAN with a commercial UE. On an XXV710/i40e testbed (NDR per RFC 2544) at 64 B, AF_PACKET reaches 0.25 Mpps, CNDP 5.52 and AF_XDP 6.47 Mpps at 2 workers, and DPDK 10.30 Mpps at 4 workers and 13.09 at 8, with the lowest latency (8.1 microseconds average). At matched worker counts the three kernel-bypass modes are within noise and AF_XDP leads per core; DPDK's advantage is a scaling-ceiling effect, since its native PMD over vfio-pci escapes the per-netdev AF_XDP socket limit that pins CNDP and AF_XDP at two workers, not a per-packet efficiency win. CNDP and AF_XDP are the cloud-native sweet spot when hugepages, vfio-pci, and isolated cores are unaffordable; DPDK is justified on dedicated hosts. We also document deployment pitfalls absent from synthetic benchmarks, including a Kubernetes this http URL mis-setting that silently halved DPDK throughput. The paper is a side-by-side reference for operators choosing a UPF dataplane mode in a cloud-native 5G deployment. Comments: 34 pages, 19 figures Subjects: Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI) ; Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) Cite as: arXiv:2608.14589 [cs.NI] (or arXiv:2608.14589v1 [cs.NI] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.14589 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Vipin Rathi [ view email ] [v1] Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:01:57 UTC (2,661 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Comparing UPF Dataplane I/O Modes in a Cloud-Native 5G Core: AF_PACKET, AF_XDP, CNDP, and DPDK on SD-Core BESS-UPF, by Shiva Valia and 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: cs.NI < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: cs cs.CR References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... 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